Partition attachment for railroad or other cars



w. B. DEAN 2,231,522

PARTITION ATTACHMENT FOR RAILROAD 0R OTlflER CARS Feb. 11, 1.

Filed March 10, 1939 INVENTOR:

KL Walter E). Dean Patented Feb. 11, 1941 crricr. 1

PARTITION ATTACHMENT FOR RAILROAD OR OTHER CARS Walter B. Dean, Paris,France, assignor to Edward G. Budd Manufacturing 00., Philadelphia, Pa.,a corporation of Pennsylvania Application March 10, 1939, Serial No.260,895 In France April 27, 1938 5 Claims.

The separating partitions that are installed in the bodies of railroadcars are either simple separations without special rigidity and whichare installed in such a way in the said bodies that the said separationscannot stand any appreciable load, or else they are structuralpartitions of strorfg construction that generally comprise structuralmembers incorporated in the said partitions.

The partitions of the second kind (structural partitions) serve not onlyas separations between the different passenger compartments but also, onaccount of their rigidity, as reinforcement for the car. Thesepartitions are generally installed direct on body uprights and on roofcarlines, etc., but this kind of arrangement has the following specialdisadvantages:

(a) The structural members of the structural partition form a kind ofrepetition of the uprights, roof carlines and other similar structuralmembers to which the partition in question is joined.

(b) The attachment of the interior casing of the car is ratherdifficult.

(c) The general arrangement of the car is made dependent on the positionof the partitions, and this means that any change made in the saidposition of the partitions necessitates the setting up of extrauprights, roof carlines, etc. to which to attach the partition.

The present invention permits avoidance of the above drawbacks in thesense that the partition (which is of sufiiciently strong constructionfor shearing) is installed on attaching devices that constitute shearingplates and that are welded to the adjacent uprights, to the adjacentroof carlines and to the floor reinforcing elements (between the floorbeams), these attaching plates being made of a very thin material andhaving slight resistance to bending, and this results in the partitionbeing only in shear and it can be installed at any suitable point alongthe car.

The interior casing may then be attached in two ways:

This casing can be secured to the car body before installation of thepartition the edges of which may consist of a gutter-shaped profile orclosed contour section, the panels intended to cover the partition beingthen secured to these profiles.

In a variation, the partition may be set in position before the interiorcasing of the car is set up. In that case, the outside edges of thepartition consist of U shape profiles, for example, that are providedwith wings, the ceiling casing and the side casing being then secured tothe aforesaid wings while the partition panels are secured on the sidesof the profile in question.

The appended drawing shows schematically, and as an example withoutlimitation, one embodiment -of a structural partition and the method ofinstalling it in the car.

Fig. 1 is a front view of the partition.

Fig. 2 is a section on a larger scale, taken along the line II-II ofFig. 1.

In the embodiment taken as an example, the partition I05 consists of aframework that comprises, on the one hand, a U section periphericprofile I06 having wings I01 and, on the other hand, struts or otherreinforcing elements incorporated in the thickness of the partition andnot shown in the drawing.

According to the invention, the Wings ill! of the profile I06 aresecured to thin metal plates I98 that are welded at I89 at both ends tothe inside wings of the body uprights l3 (e. g. of Z shape section) itbeing possible for the plates m8 to comprise ribs ill] on theirlongitudinal edges.

After the partition framework IE5 is placed in position, the interiordecorative casing HI is secured on the inside of the car body, whereuponthe partition panels H2 are installed on the sides of the profile I06.

Thanks to this new arrangement, the partition which acts only in shearand which is supported by fittings that act also only in shear inopposing distortion of the body cross section, can be located asrequired at any point along the car, the structural elements of thepartition not representing in any Way a double use of the structuralelements (floor beam, body uprights, deck sills, etc.) of the frameworkof the car.

It is evident that the example of an embodiment of a partition and ofthe installation of the partition, as described above and shown in theappended drawing, is given only by way of indication and not oflimitation, it being possible for the partition and its method ofattachment to the body of the car to undergo any modifications of detailwithout departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A partition panel for vehicle bodies having a closed cross sectionand longitudinally spaced frame members extending around at least themajor part of said section, said panel being adapted to act in shear tooppose distortion of the body cross section and including a peripheralmember conforming generally to the inside contour of the body frame andmeans providing a connection between said member and the body framemembers which acts with the panel in shear to oppose any distortion ofthe body cross section.

2. A partition panel according to claim 1 in which the connectioncomprises a plurality of spaced shear plates connected to two adjacentbody frame members and to said peripheral member.

3. A partition panel according to claim 1 in Which the connectioncomprises a plurality of spaced shear plates connected at their ends totwo adjacent body frame members and at an intermediate point to saidperipheral member, the connection of said peripheral member and saidbody frame members to said plates being through lateral flangesoverlapping the same side of said plates.

4. A partition panel according to claim 1 in which the connectioncomprises a plurality of 5 circumferentially spaced shear platesconnected to the body frames and lateral flanges on said peripheralmember so as not to interfere with the application of the inner panelingdirect to inner faces of the frame members and the flanges 10 of saidperipheral member.

5. A partition panel according to claim 1 in which the connectioncomprises lateral flanges on said peripheral member connected to amember or members arranged to transmit forces in 15 shear to said bodyframe members.

WALTER B. DEAN.

